Missing all contacts:

I had been helping someone else trying to fix a problem with his messages. They were coming in as phones numbers instead of names. Didn't get it fixed, but later my phone started doing the same thing. Was told to go to settings/general/restore/restore network.. Did that and they are still coming in as phone numbers, but I have also lost all of my contacts. Thought I was supposed to be able to load them back from my contacts in Outlook but can't seem to get it done. I always thought I was pretty smart when it comes to these kind of things as I repaired computers and ATM's before I retired, several years and have built several computers. Sure could use some help. Thanks to all even before a response..

This also happened to my Wife's 5s when I updated her phone to one of the iOS7's (forgot which one). I never did find a solution (she had to input manually) and now she refuses to update to iOS8.1....The updates worked flawless on my 5s...Not sure what happened to hers. Others have had the same problem. If you find a solution please let us know